How OEM Bakery Racks Speed Up Kitchen Workflow

Handling is where the hours go

In a central kitchen, baking is rarely the bottleneck. The bottleneck is usually the distance between the mixer, the proofer, the oven, the blast chiller and the loading dock. Every time product is transferred from one surface to another, you spend labour and you create a chance for damage or contamination.

The rack is a mobile workstation

A bun pan rack is not storage. It is a transport device that also happens to hold pans. When the rack is sized correctly, product stays on the same pan from the make up table to the oven to the cooling area, and the only thing that moves is the rack.

Roll in and roll through systems

Roll in racks are built to a specific height and footprint so they can be pushed straight into a rack oven or proofer. This removes the pan by pan loading that costs the most time and creates the most burns. Roll through designs let staff load from one side and unload from the other, which keeps clean and dirty work areas apart.

Match the rack to the equipment opening

• Measure the clear opening of the oven, proofer and chiller, then subtract the caster height and any door frame.

• Confirm the maximum load the oven carriage can accept.

• Check the turning radius at every corner between the make up area and the oven.

• Allow for a floor drain, curb or ramp along the route.

Reducing touches: a before and after

Fewer touches means less labour, fewer dropped pans and a shorter cooling window, which matters when the same room is used for several production runs a day.

Layout tips for tight kitchens

• Keep one clear lane at least as wide as the loaded rack plus 300 mm.

• Group make up, proofer and oven along one line so racks never cross a washdown zone.

• Put a rack parking position next to every oven so the next batch is ready before the door opens.

• Label racks by room so they do not migrate to the loading dock.

• Plan caster type by floor: soft wheels in tiled production areas, hard wheels in cold stores.

Working with your equipment supplier

Send us a plan of your production floor together with the openings of your oven, proofer and chiller. We will recommend rack dimensions, caster sets and a load plan that fits your existing equipment instead of asking you to rebuild your line.

Talk to Our Team

Building or sourcing racks, shelving or carts for your operation? IEQUIPMENT supplies aluminum and stainless steel equipment as OEM, ODM and knock-down (KD) programs, shipped in containers from Shanghai or Ningbo (FOB/CIF). Browse our bun pan racks or contact our team with your spec.